Jason Stanford: The dreams of Superman's fathers

8:14 PM,
Jun. 21, 2013

Jason Stanford

Written by

Jason
Stanford

It is no accident that "Man of Steel," the latest Superman movie, opened on Father's Day weekend. Television shows and movies based on Superman always have reflected America's zeitgeist, but "Man of Steel" goes deeper into questioning America's identify by examining the values that Superman - and thus, America - was raised with. As an inwardly directed memoir that illuminates our political conflicts, "Man of Steel" might as well have been called "Dreams of Superman's Fathers."

Hollywood directors with budgets in the tens of millions of dollars probably don't set out to tell political ...